CHARACTER TRAIT: Encouragement
Reference: Romans 15:2
Bible Verse: Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Definition: Supporting others in ways that inspire hope, courage, or confidence in others
Opposite: Gossiping
SPELLING
Lesson 17: Pattern Words–Words with the (o) Sound
1. loss
2. also
3. stall
4. haul
5. fault
6. often
7. rainfall
8. almost
9. always
10. caught
11. bought
12. lawyer
13. authors
14. naughty
15. yawned
16. daughter
17. awesome
18. thoughtful
High Frequency Words
19. beside
20. distance
Challenge Words
*presidio
*pueblo
Cursive: Beginning third quarter, students will start to take their spelling tests in printing and cursive. Third graders will be graded for spelling credit in printing and progress will be observed in cursive for handwriting. This week the first 5 spelling words will be required in printing and cursive. We will add 5 more words each week until we reach the required 20 words plus challenge words. After several weeks, the training wheels of printing will be removed and spelling tests will be in cursive only. You will be informed in a future newsletter which week the cursive-only requirement starts for spelling.
PARENT CORNER
WINTER WELCOME!
What a peaceful and restful Christmas with family and dear friends! I trust all of you had a wonderful Christmas vacation enjoying the holidays together with your loved ones. May the presence of Jesus be our guiding light! Happy New Year!
IN APPRECIATION
I wish to deeply thank all of the FCS families for the beautiful expression of love given to all Fresno Christian teachers and staff in receiving a Christmas donation gift check. We appreciate your generosity in making our family Christmas special. May God’s peace dwell in your hearts. All of the teachers and staff also wish to to thank the Parents Serving Together Board for the festive Christmas bag filled with wonderful, thoughtful holiday delights! What a special gift of that was! May God’s blessing you rest upon you as serve our school.
I also wanted to thank all of you third graders along with your moms and dads for the goodness of the Lord. Your thoughtful, individual holiday gifts made Christmas so special to me. Thank you for your cards of encouragement. My heart was moved by your giving spirit at this time of year. The Christmas Class Gift Basket was absolutely wonderful!!! I thank God for each one of you and your presence in my life. He is exceedingly great and you have been the light of His love.
BIBLE
In January Unit 3 focuses on the start of the great nation of Israel, begins with the story of Jacob’s 12 sons and God’s blessings on Jacob with many sons. We will read the story of how Jacob flees from Laban to return to Canaan, the land God had promised to his family. God wrestles with Jacob at the Jabbok River as angels meet Jacob as he sets out on the final leg of his trip back to Canaan. It is here that Jacob receives his new identity–Israel (he who strives with God.) This week we will see how God heals broken hearts and Esau is able to embrace and forgive his brother, Jacob for stealing his birthright and blessing.
MATH
During the next few weeks our class will be learning more about multiplication of whole numbers. You can expect to see work that provides practice in multiplying with 6, 7, 8, and 9. We will learn about the Associative Property which means that the way factors are grouped does not change the product. We will be introducing the variable n in this chapter. N is just a symbol to show a missing number.
PEACH BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
Third grade students were instructed to begin selecting poems before Christmas to memorize for the Peach Blossom Festival. Requirements for third grade include:
A minimum of 12-16 lines (3-4 stanzas)
Identify the title and author at the beginning of the selection
Choose selections that allow children to “bring to life” their pieces through their voice and and gestures
Poem of integrity and value
Appropriate selection for age
Vocal variety in volume, rate, pitch
Hand and/or Body Movements
Eye Contact
Creativity Utilized
Meaning and Emotion
Naturalness and Sincerity
We will read poems together in class. Students should each choose a different poem. Once selected, students should begin to memorize their poem on a daily basis at home with parental guidance. A “Helpful Hints” guide sheet for memorizing and presenting the poem will be sent home with the newsletter to assist parents on tips for a great, effective presentation. Please continue to work individually with your child on these steps. We look forward to sharing our favorite poems with our classmates. Thank you for your cooperation in helping your children learn their poems.
Your child needs to choose a poem and send a copy of it to school by Wednesday, January 14th. Students may select from a variety of sources. The school has a grade level resource book with Associated Christian Schools International collection of poems and elementary speech materials for third grade including classic poets and more contemporary poets like Robert Louis Stevenson, A. A. Milne, Helen Steiner Rice, David McCord. There are many poetry books at school in our classroom and in the library. Parents are welcome to look on-line for poems and have your child submit a copy for approval.
All students are expected to memorize a poem as part of their oral language grade for third quarter in language. Our class oral interpretation speech meet for evaluations will be Friday, January 23rd. This will be for students only. On Monday, January 26th, those chosen will advance to the finalist round in our Peach Blossom Assembly at 12:30 PM in North Lobby Chapel. All are invited to attend for this Assembly. Judges will select students to represent our school at the California State University, Fresno Peach Blossom Festival in early spring.
READING
There will be no book report project assigned this month as students will be busy memorizing poems for the oral presentation in Oral Language. Students will have the next 3 weeks to practice and prepare the presentations of their oral poetry. We will continue our leveled reading adventures in reading groups.
WRITING
This third quarter we will focus on learning to write fictional narratives or stories. We will study about story elements including characters (imaginary people, animals, or creatures), the setting (time and place), the plot (sequence of events), the villain (someone or something that causes a problem), the conflict (a problem), and the resolution (how the problem is solved).
Third graders will learn how to creatively develop a plot with a beginning, middle, and end. They will develop the characters and setting by using strategies like dress-ups, action, descriptive detail, and dialogue to make their stories interesting. We will also focus on correct grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.
JANUARY SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS
Scholastic HAPPY NEW YEAR Book Orders will be sent home today. All orders must be placed on-line. You may order from more than one catalogue listing. You may place your order online by January 30. Use our One-Time Class Activation Code: L9Nj4
SOCIAL STUDIES
We will begin Unit 3 Community History this week with Chapter 5 How Communities Began. Lesson 1 will include Exploring California and rulers who sent Spanish, English, and Russian explorers to California. We will follow routes on a map. We will learn about early communities including Spanish missions, presidios, and pueblos. We study how to read a time line.
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
Our class is starting a program to learn more about nutritional, healthy eating and physical-activity choices called “Shaping Up My Choices.” We will discover how to build balanced meals using a food grouping system, name the nutrients of each food group, balance breakfast, lunch, and snacks with healthy choices, read the Nutrition Facts label on food packages. We will also learn about serving sizes of foods, learn about the benefits of being physically active, and learn about healthy beverage choices.
*After some of the lessons, students will bring activities home that you as parents can do together. I would also like to invite a parent who is in the health or medical field to come and share with the children about their profession. Let me know if you would be willing to come and share with us. The children are so proud when mom or dad or grandma or grandpa come to our classroom and share.
WORLD’S FINEST CHOCOLATES
PST will start distributing boxes of THE WORLD’S FINEST CHOCOLATE on Wednesday, January 7th for our New Year’s Fundraiser. Easy to sell and still only $1.00 each! Parents MUST sign for the boxes of chocolate. Students cannot sign them out on their own. (Once opened, the boxes CANNOT be returned.) More details will be given to the students this week. Have fun selling lots of chocolate!!!!!
APPLEBEE’S FELLOWSHIP FUNDINNER
BOX TOP TREASURE DAY
Just a reminder that this Friday, January 9th is a Box Top Collection Day so be sure to bring in your pre-counted boxtops on Friday.
SPIRIT DAY
Remember that every Friday is Spirit Day! So be sure to wear your favorite FCS spirit wear on Fridays!!
COMING ATTRACTIONS
JANUARY
Monday, January 5 – Happy New Year! School resumes
Monday, January 5 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRYPHENA GUNAWAN!!
Monday, January 5 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA FLORES!!
Wednesday, January 7 – World’s Finest Chocolate Kick-Off Fundraiser Begins
Wednesday, January 7 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB MYNDERUP!!
Tuesday, January 13 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAITLYNNE HOOD!!
Wednesday, January 14 – Peach Blossom Poem Due
Monday, January 19 – Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday – No School
Friday, January 23 – Classroom Peach Blossom Presentations
Monday, January 26 – Finalist Round Peach Blossom Assembly – 12:30 PM – North Lobby Chapel (All Invited)
